Hey all, I think I am going to go for a Samurai from my previous thread... now since I don't have all of the money yet to purchase the vehicle, if for some reason I end up with a stock one and not the one on the autotrader, what would be the best route to go about lifting one?

I took a look over a Calmini and these two kits caught my eye:

CALMINI 3" SUSPENSION SYSTEM - $499.95
CALMINI 3" BODY LIFT - $99.95

I live in Canada so that total will come out to $747.2 plus taxes and shipping. Would this be an ideal lift or would I be better of starting with a shackle reverse for only a total of 5" of lift over all?

Next question is tires, what is the largest I can run without regearing? Or is regearing fairly cheap? Fender trimming/bashing is not an issue and I have no problem cutting because I have all of the necessary tools to do so. Do you think a 31" tire would look too small for a 6" lift?

Sorry for the long post and I know that I should have used the search but everyone here is always willing to help post something useful, so any feed back is appreciated! I can't wait to buy one of these trucks!!!!

take a look at a spoa from sky-manufacturing.
cheap and a good start as it fixes the steering. then you can add on. At least this is my plan for my pretty much stock sammy.

Have you checked here already?
http://www.zukiworld.com/cgi/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=forsale;action=display;num=1118190093

http://www.breezeindustries.com/   Heres a Canadian Site..  I know a fwe rigs running the complete package. Good stuff.. Tough.. and not to expensive.

A second vote for Breeze.  I have many of their products and they are all quality items.  They are located near Vancouver and you can likely get everything from them for cheaper than from Calmini.  The folks at Breeze are great to deal with as well.  

Skip the shackle reversal and body lift and just go with the spring over.  For 31s you will want the shorter perches which provide 4.5 inches of lift.  You can get away with 31s with stock gearing but you will not use 5th gear much on the highway and you will slip your clutch and stall a bunch off road.  

For regearing you can get tcase gears for as little as $400 US.  These will help in turning the 31s and they are relatively easy to install yourself.  You can also put in sidekick gears into the diffs.  The 4.62s from automatic kicks are perfect for 31s.  Search a bit and you will find out what is needed to swap them in.  You should expect to pay about $300-400 for the diff gears and then add several hundred for new bearings, seals and necessary parts.  If you can't do the gear set-up yourself plan on paying a mechanic to do it properly.    

hot damn, this sport is EXPENSIVE!!!! So are you saying the engine won't be powerful enough to make it into 5th gear? Or in 4th I will reach my max highway speed because of the taller tire?

When I added 31's to my otherwise stock drivetrained Tracker, I could only use 5th on the highway when it was flat or downhill. If the road went uphill at all, I have to drop to 4th at highway speeds to maintain my speed...

hot damn, this sport is EXPENSIVE!!!!

That really depends on what you want to do. A standard Samurai or Track/Kick is amazingly competent. Its only when you decide its not enough that you end up on the slippery slope.

A second vote for Breeze.  I have many of their products and they are all quality items.  They are located near Vancouver and you can likely get everything from them for cheaper than from Calmini.    

I'm just curious as to how you came to this conclusion.  For example, their Hi-steer kit is a single arm setup that is $375.00 whereas you can get the dual kit from CALMINI for $299.95.  Also, you simply can't compare weld-on perches to this http://www.puresuzuki.com/bolt-on_spoa.htm .  

hot damn, this sport is EXPENSIVE!!!!

You don't need an expensive kit to do a SPOA on a Samurai.  Although they do make it easier, basic tools, light duty fab tools, a few beer and a little brain work can get it done in a weekend.

Where in Canada are you?

Go with the Sky MFG SPOA kit.  its the most complete Spoa kit for the $$$ and has wrap around spring pads.  Only other thing I'd really recommend is a traction bar of some sort.  I've put a Spidertrax "anti-wrap" kit in my SPOA Sammy and it almost feels like driving a normal truck again.  Best suspension mod I ever made after the lift.

I'm just curious as to how you came to this conclusion.  For example, their Hi-steer kit is a single arm setup that is $375.00 whereas you can get the dual kit from CALMINI for $299.95.  Also, you simply can't compare weld-on perches to this http://www.puresuzuki.com/bolt-on_spoa.htm .  

DaddyDave, the prices on Breeze website are in CAD. $375CAD is right now $298.769 USD, so technically it's cheaper . Allright allright, it's the same price...

I'm just curious as to how you came to this conclusion.  For example, their Hi-steer kit is a single arm setup that is $375.00 whereas you can get the dual kit from CALMINI for $299.95.  

Lets not turn this into a big who's a better vendor pissing match.  The fact of the matter is that for us in Canada to purchase items from the US it costs extra due to the exchange rate, shipping, brokerage fees and Canadian tax when it crosses the border.  I wish it was cheaper for us as there are lots of good products in the US that I would love to have but if I can find a comparable product locally I usually go that route as it is easier on my wallet.  

Yes the Calmini steering looks like a good product, it will also be more expensive than the Breeze unit to get it in Canada.  But he did not ask about steering.  

Also, you simply can't compare weld-on perches to this http://www.puresuzuki.com/bolt-on_spoa.htm .  

Looking at the parts necessary for just the spring over (not including steering correction and brake lines) you need shock relocation, spring pads, u-bolts and driveshaft spacers.   The kit you show from Calmini is $389.95 for just the bolt on perches with shock mounts (seems expensive to me) and then about $90 for the driveshaft spacers.  So call it $480 US.  Now by the time you get that to Canada it is well over $700 Canadian.  The Breeze kit which will give you perches, u-bolts, spacers and shock mounts is $223.57 plus tax so roughly $250 Canadian total.  The $450-500 difference will allow you to have a professional weld the perches on if you can't weld yourself and still have lots left over.  So I guess I can compare the two pretty easily.  

I still think that the best perches that I have seen are Sky's and his kit price is very reasonable.  

You spent too much time worrying about conversion rates and forgot that the breeze setup is a single arm and the CALMINI is a dual arm.   Canadians  
Not trying to turn this into anything out of control, but you can get trailer spring perches at any trailer supply store for even cheaper than the breeze kit.  The idea I was trying to relate was that actual engineering and design went into one kit as opposed to the other.  That's all.

You don't need an expensive kit to do a SPOA on a Samurai.  Although they do make it easier, basic tools, light duty fab tools, a few beer and a little brain work can get it done in a weekend.

Where in Canada are you?

London Ontario, what about you?

So would you guys say the reverse shackle and the BL would be a complete waste of money? Or does reversing the shackle make my steering and handling go to hell? I am not 100% knowledgable about all of these kits, I have been a lurker on this forum for a long time but I was mainly focusing on Sidekicks until I realised how much better a sammi is (mod wise)

What exactly is the benefit of a spring over axle vs. a reverse shackle?